Balthazar Ayala (1548–1584) was a military judge in the

Habsburg Netherlands Habsburg Netherlands was the Renaissance period fiefs in the Low Countries held by the Holy Roman Empire's House of Habsburg. The rule began in 1482, when the last House of Valois-Burgundy, Valois-Burgundy ruler of the Netherlands, Mary of Burgu ...

during the opening decades of the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Refo ...

who wrote an influential treatise on the law of war.

Life

Ayala was born in Antwerp in 1548, the son of a Spanish cloth merchant, Gregorio Ayala, and his wife Agnes Rainalmia, a native of Cambrai. Jules Delecourt, "Ayala (Balthazar)", ''

Biographie Nationale de Belgique The ''Biographie nationale de Belgique'' ( French; "National Biography of Belgium") is a biographical dictionary of Belgium. It was published by the Royal Academy of Belgium in 44 volumes between 1866 and 1986. A continuation series, entitled the ' ...

''
vol. 1
(Brussels, 1866), 571-573. He studied at Leuven University, graduating

licentiate of laws Bachelor of Civil Law (abbreviated BCL, or B.C.L.; la, Baccalaureus Civilis Legis) is the name of various degrees in law conferred by English-language universities. The BCL originated as a postgraduate degree in the universities of Oxford and Camb ...

. On 27 May 1580 the Prince of Parma appointed him auditor general of the

Army of Flanders The Army of Flanders ( es, Ejército de Flandes nl, Leger van Vlaanderen) was a multinational army in the service of the kings of Spain that was based in the Spanish Netherlands during the 16th to 18th centuries. It was notable for being the longe ...

. On 20 January 1583, he was appointed master of requests in the

Great Council of Mechelen From the 15th century onwards, the Great Council of the Netherlands at Mechelen (Dutch: ''De Grote Raad der Nederlanden te Mechelen''; French: ''le grand conseil des Pays-Bas à Malines''; German: ''der Grosse Rat der Niederlände zu Mecheln'') w ...

, then sitting in

Namur Namur (; ; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namu ...

as a result of the unfolding

Dutch Revolt The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) (Historiography of the Eighty Years' War#Name and periodisation, c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and t ...

. In 1584 he was royal commissioner for the renewal of the magistracy in

Breda Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...

Herentals Herentals () is a city in the province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the city of Herentals proper and the towns of Morkhoven and . In 2021, Herentals had a total population of 28.194. The total area is . Saint Waltrude is the patron saint ...

and Lier. He died in Aalst on 1 September 1584, probably while acting in the same capacity there. Of his five brothers, Grégoire was also military auditor and later a member of the

Council of Brabant The Council of Brabant was the highest law court in the historic Duchy of Brabant. It was presided over by the Chancellor of Brabant. One of its functions was to determine that new legislation was not contrary to the rights and liberties establis ...

, and Philippe was entrusted with an embassy to

Henri IV of France Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarch ...

Works

* ''De jure et officiis bellicis et disciplina militari'' (Douai,

Jan Bogard Jean Bogard (died around 1634) was a printer in Leuven and Douai in the 16th and 17th centuries. Life Bogard was born in Leuven around the mid-16th century and from 1564 was working as a printer in the city. E.-H.-J. Reusens, "Bogard (Jean)", ''Bi ...

, 1582). Second edition, Antwerp, 1597. ** English translation published in 1912 in the

Carnegie Institution The Carnegie Institution of Washington (the organization's legal name), known also for public purposes as the Carnegie Institution for Science (CIS), is an organization in the United States established to fund and perform scientific research. Th ...

Classics of International Law series.Balthazar Ayala, ''Three Books on the Law of War and on the Duties Connected with War and on Military Discipline'', translated by

John Pawley Bate John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

, (Washington DC, 1912)
On Google Books
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayala, Balthazar 1548 births 1584 deaths Military writers Belgian jurists Old University of Leuven alumni